Are You Sexist?

If you had asked me that question yesterday I would have said no. But today the company that services the AC/heating unit at work sent a repairman out to install a seal because Freon was leaking and it was a repairwoman. And not a big manly repairwoman, a pretty tiny young woman who looked like she was still in high school. I've never seen a woman doing heating and air conditioner repairs and I kept thinking "I hope she knows what she's doing". I'm not sure I'd completely trust a female mechanic either. Sexist, I know. Are there jobs you feel women aren't as qualified to do as men?

I understand. Stereotype is a hard thing to overcome. I remember discussing whether or not I could work for a woman way back in college. Turned out that of all the bosses I had along the way, the very best was a woman. And not some highly educated, polished woman. A woman who had left her parents farm, managed to get a college degree while raising a daughter, and became a Vice President of the company. She later went on to be Undersecretary of the Treasury with 135,000 people reporting to her and eventually on the Big Board of AT&T. We've come a long way. Just stop and notice, as you did, when you reflexively think like that. I was just thinking, is there a job that would seem odd for a man to be doing? We used to think Nurses were all women. Same with secretaries. I can't really think of any.

I can understand what you're saying. I vaguely remember a time when I was that way - back in the 70s but I got over it. I have a tiny female doctor with a hilarious name and an accent that's straight out of a cheap comedy movie who was the impetus for getting over any sexism I ever had. She's a health nazi and I love her for it.

When customers ask me to recommend a landscaper I give them the name of the one we use owned by a hard working woman who fought sexism to become the best in the area. Funeral Directors, drywall hangers, carpenters, long haul truckers, large animal vets, sanitation workers, corrections officers, electricians, emergency helicopter pilots, power company line'person'... I haven't run into a woman working as a plumber, professional bull rider, or proctologist yet but I won't be surprised when I do.

Now when I see a woman working in a profession that I presumed to be all male it makes me grin and think "You Go Girl!"

You can bet if the AC tech who came to service your unit was a female she had to get the job because she's good at it and not because she's a woman.